Characterization of harbor sediments from the English Channel: assessment of heavy metal enrichment, biological effect and mobility.

For a full assessment of the environmental risk posed by dredged sediments not only the anthropogenic enrichment of contaminants, but also their mobility and biological impact should be considered. This study reports on the enrichment factor (EF), mobility, and Adverse Effect Index (AEI) of metals and metalloids in nine dredged sediments. Significant enrichment of As, Cd, Pb and Zn with respect to background values is detected, and calculated AEI values for these elements suggest that it is possible that a corresponding biological effect may be observed. Correlation coefficients also reveal a link between mobility in HCl and enrichment for Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn, however As and Cu do not display such a link, possibly suggesting that the source of contamination for these elements is less recent. Mobility and enrichment are two parameters which are often studied separately; however this paper shows that in some cases strong correlations occur.

Cathodic protection by zinc sacrificial anodes: impact on marine sediment metallic contamination.

Cathodic protection by sacrificial zinc anodes is often applied to prevent immerged metallic structures from corrosion. But this technique induces the zinc anodes dissolution, which can induce marine sediments and seawater contamination. A large scale experiment, in natural seawater, was conducted during 12 months, in order to evaluate the potential environmental impact of this continuous zinc dissolution, and of some necessary cleaning operations of the anodes surfaces. The heavy metal (Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn) concentration in water and sediment samples was monitored. A sequential extraction procedure was applied on sediment samples to differentiate the zinc mobile fractions from the residual one. A significant increase of zinc concentration was observed in water as well as in the surface sediments under the specific operating conditions. Sediments then become a secondary pollution source, as the sorbed labile zinc can be remobilized to seawater.